Greek ambassador to Brazil killed in suspected ‘crime of passion’

Brazilian police suspect Greek Ambassador Kyriakos Amiridis was killed in a “crime of passion,” a source close to the investigation said Friday, as detectives interrogated his wife and a policeman who was reportedly her lover.

Amiridis went missing while vacationing with his family in Rio de Janeiro, a picturesque but crime-plagued city where he served as Greece’s consul general from 2001 to 2004, before being named ambassador to Brasilia this year.

Then, on Thursday, police found what appeared to be the 59-year-old ambassador’s body, burned beyond recognition, inside a torched and abandoned car rented in his name.

Francoise Amiridis and two other people — all considered “suspects” — were brought in for questioning Friday morning at the homicide division for Baixada Fluminense, a neighborhood on Rio de Janeiro’s west side, the source close to the investigation told AFP.

The ambassador’s wife had already been questioned Thursday about her husband’s disappearance, but “the division chief wanted to see her again,” said the source, adding: “A crime of passion is the most solid trail in the investigation.”